Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, it's on. In Queensland, it's on—that is, the state election campaign. It will be run and won by 26 October, and, in my local region, I've got three exceptional candidates for the Liberal National Party. Firstly, David Lee in Hervey Bay is a well-known local and a local councillor who works hard and is fighting every single day for the people of that region, and he's up against a Labor state member who's been in witness protection for the last four years. Right now, you'd think he'd be out and a bit more vocal, but he's like Homer going into the hedge in The Simpsons; he's just disappeared.

In Burnett, we've got a local champion in Stephen Bennett, and Stephen is an absolute champion for the regions. He has held that seat for four years, and he's running for his fifth election. I wish him every single success.

And then we come to Bundaberg, my home town and where I was born. The LNP has Bree Watson running up against the state Labor member for Bundaberg, who, I've got to say, is absolutely hapless. In 2020, as a candidate, he actually committed to a new level 5 hospital in Bundaberg—four years ago—and then withdrew that commitment to say: 'No, it's actually five levels. We weren't talking about level 5 professional hospitals but talking about five storeys,' which is absolute nonsense. No-one will fall for that.

In recent days, the member for Bundaberg went on the record and said, 'It's absolutely progressed so far, since our commitment in August of 2020.' This was from the Courier Mail, on 8 October. He also said, 'In fact, we've cleared land and we've provided a pile of mulch, and that pile of mulch was delivered to community organisations.' I know what the pile of mulch is. It is the commitment from state Labor to actually build a hospital. This is ridiculous. In fact, Mr Smith celebrated that someone offered him a beer because he gave mulch for free to a local community organisation. I can tell the Labor member for Bundaberg who is not buying a beer: all those individuals and their families who have been ramped in ambulances at the local hospital over the last four years and who are not getting the services that they demand and actually need. This hospital will not be built by 2027. Can you imagine? It hasn't started yet, and apparently it will be built—a $1.2 billion hospital—by 2027. It is nonsense.

Bree Watson has committed the LNP to a level 5 training hospital. It will service up to 300,000 people across a regional population. It is an incredibly important piece of infrastructure. They'll continue to deliver Paradise Dam; the LNP is committed to it. This federal Labor government took away the funding. We secured $600 million for Paradise Dam, and it has been struck from the budget. That is a tragedy for our local agricultural producers. It is an absolute disgrace.

Those who think it's funny that there's a pile of mulch instead of a hospital should go and talk to some of the people in our regional community who need those services that should have been delivered. It is another broken promise from state Labor, and they deserve to have their campaign in ashes on 26 October.